I Almost Lost You
by TiredAndWriting
Summary: In which Bolin nearly drowns when Eska couldn't save him. First fic on my new account! Hope you enjoy.


**First fic on my new account! (Last one sucked :P) I'm uploading a bunch of Boleska fics I wrote on tumblr, but expect more later ^_^**

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Eska laughed, tumbling with the rockiness of the boat. She fell into Bolin, and he crushed in a hug. In her mind, they were echoes. Her eyes with laughter, and Bolin's warmth surrounding her, she didn't even notice the gray overcast getting darker or the breeze was picking up. She kissed him, and then it started to rain.

"Ah, a nice drizzle," she sighed. It seemed like years ago, now. She got up, opening her arms up to the sky. He put his hands on her hips, and they swayed together. He buried his head in her collarbone.

"A bit cool for this time of year, isn't it?" Her eyes were still closed.

"Losing your Water Tribe temperature now, aren't you?" he breathed into her neck. She could feel his smile.

"Do you really think so?" She turned her head to him, smiling the smile she only smiled when they were alone, a smile that Bolin thought could light up the entire world. An evil one came across his face. Then, the green of his eyes were vibrant and alive. Now, everything seemed to be black and white. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Let's find out." The grip on her hips tightened, and he picked her up and threw her into the dark, gray water. Dead water.

"Hey!" she screamed when she resurfaced. The water felt colder than ice, but she hadn't ever felt this happy. This _right_.

He leaned over. "So cold, freezing, or… really freezing?"

Her hair and clothes stuck to her skin as she treaded back to their little rented boat.

"Boiling hot," she joked.

"Well then." His eyes squinted with the largeness of his smile. He stuck his hand out for Eska.

She took it, and with all her might, pulled him into the water, but pushed herself with her other arm on the boat.

"Ha," she said triumphantly, a smug look on her face.

"HEYYYY!" Bolin yelled. "No fair!" The rain was going down pretty hard now and the wind was rocking the boat, but Eska and Bolin didn't even notice. They were the only things they were aware of.

"Fine," she said, taking off her big coat - now soaked - so she just had her pants and tank top on. "Here I come." Just as she was about to jump in, a huge bolt of lighting struck about a kilometre away - big and golden. A huge blast of wind nearly knocked Eska out of the boat, but she fell down and hit the stern. Thunder boomed just seconds later, waking the two up out of their shock. She screamed, "Bolin!" and got up, running to the boat. He was way out of arm's reach - a good ten feet away. The wind was horrible and big waves were forming. Without thinking, she was about to jump out of the boat, but Bolin yelled back out at her, "No! Don't! Stay in the boat!"

"I can't just leave you, Bolin!"

"Sail back over here!"

A huge wave washed over him, and after a few of the longest seconds of Eska's life, he popped up again, twice as far away.

She felt hot tears against the freezing rain. "No no no no no no _NO!" _she yelled, going to the sails. She did all the jobs by herself - she tightened the sails, and was soon in a beam reach and heading straight for Bolin, his arms sailing frantically. The wind was worse, and he was moving away faster than she was sailing, now probably a hundred metres away. Her hands were burning and freezing at the same time, and it was to hard to keep the sails at the right angles. "No, no, no, no NO NO NO NO NO!" she sobbed. She couldn't keep her balance.

"Bolin!" she yelled, her voice up and down with tears. "I can't sail in this storm by myself!" Useless. She was useless, and Bolin was out there, freezing and drowning.

"It's okay, Eska! Life guards'll come-" he went underwater again. "- soon! They know- we're - out here! You know, it's actually kinda nice here!"

Eska smiled weakly for him. Even if he was dying, he still tried to make her smile.

"I love you, Bolin!" she screamed out at him.

"Love you, too, Es-" he went under the surface, and he didn't come back up. Eska crumpled into her coat, which she had wrapped around herself. As she waited for the boats, whose lights were starting to be visible on the horizon, she replayed "Love you" in her head, over and over again. She couldn't think of anything else. Her eyes were squeezed shut as hard as she could. As she thought of this, everything still seemed… numb. The rain and thunder and icy, sharp wind was quiet and unfelt.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as a boat pulled up next to hers. She felt a couple arms grip her and help her onto the boat. She was walking rockily, and someone else was tying the small boat up to theirs, but she couldn't really feel or see any of it, as if she wasn't there.

And she wasn't. She was with Bolin.

"Is there anybody else with you?" a man's voice said. She nodded her head. "Bolin," she whispered.

"And where is he now?"

She pointed out west.

"West!" the man's voice yelled. "Man overboard!" then back to Eska, "How far out?"

"Two hundred meters at least, I guess," she said.

"Okay," he said reassuringly. A woman came and took her coat, wrapping a warm coat around her and rubbed her back. "Hey," she whispered softly, "Everything'll be okay."

"No," she was still crying. "Bolin is everything, and he isn't okay." She gagged and lunged forward. She wasn't able to see his facial features, but watching the small thing far out that was him plunge under the water kept replaying, over and over in her head. Possibly him dying - over, and over, and over, and over.

Before she knew it, she saw something green just under the water, not even a foot. "STOP!" she screamed, pointing at the green. "It's him!"

The boat stopped. The man and the woman worked together to pull Bolin out, who wasn't conscious, and for a second Eska thought he wasn't alive. Then the woman put her index finger and thumb against his neck, and said, "He pulse is barely there, and slow," but Eska shook with relief. She got up and hugged him before the lifeguards could tell her to stop.

The man started steering back towards the shore, and the woman started performing CPR on Bolin. The man used his radio to call for an ambulance. After a few minutes, they pulled into the harbour. An ambulance was already there.

"Over here!" the man yelled. There were around fifteen other people wrapped in blankets like Eska, and about twenty lifeguards.

The ambulance started driving away. "No!" Eska tried to get up, but the woman stopped her. "Let me go with him!"

"There are more ambulances coming, but for now you just need to sit and wait."

_But that's all I've been doing_, Eska thought.

The woman continued to rub her back. "He's going to be fine. He swallowed a lot of water, but it didn't seem like he had hypothermia. How long was he in the water for?"

"About ten minutes." Eska's was starting to get back to normal again.

"You're lucky, then."

Eska nodded, and then she blacked out into the woman's lap.

—

When she woke, Eska was dry. That was the first thing she noticed.

Second, she was on Air Temple Island.

She squeezed her eyes and yawned. All her muscles ached and her hands stung. What had happened? She still didn't remember.

Then she looked at her red, burned hands, and everything came back at once.

She screamed.

Wide eyed, she stared into her hands, but all she could see was the traumatic experience. Bolin get engulfed into the waves, plunging under the water. Over and over and over and over. She screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed. She squeezed her eyes for a second then continued, shaking.

Pema bursted through the doors. "Eska!"

She continued to scream, and Pema came to her bedside and rubbed her back like the woman had earlier. Eska began to calm down.

"Shh, honey. Calm down. Everything's okay."

"Is Bolin - is he -"

"He's fine. Still unconscious, but alive."

Eska shook with relief.

"He talked a bit in his sleep. Only about you, 'is Eska okay?' and similar stuff."

Eska wiped a tear from her face. "Thank you," she whispered, shaking her head. "That idiot. If he just hadn't pushed me in."

Pema let go of Eska's back. "When you're well enough, we can go see him. It's funny. Bolin swallowed all that water and was in the water for such a long time, but you're the one who had the hypothermia. Barely any so nothing was amputated, but you still had traces. Your lips were matching your eyeliner," Pema joked.

Eska laughed along with her, her eyes almost closed. She was _tired_. "Guess I really am losing my Water Tribe temperature."

Korra, Asami and Mako rushed in to the room.

"Eska! You're awake!" Korra said excitedly.

She laughed. "How long was I out for?"

"Well, you passed out at four in the afternoon yesterday, and it's eleven in the morning now, so about nineteen hours," Mako calculated.

Eska's eyes widened and she turned towards them. "Really?"

"Yep," Korra said. "But you still look exhausted, so we'd better let you rest."

"I'm so happy you're awake," Asami said as they were walking out of they walked out of the room with Pema behind them. They waved goodbye.

Once the door was shut, Eska lied back down. She turned onto her side, away from the door, looking at the golden sunlight pouring through the windows. Bolin was alive, and that was all she needed. Her eyes closed, and she slipped into a peaceful, quiet, dreamless sleep.

—

Pema coming into the room with food on a tray when Eska woke up again. She was _starving_.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman said. "Did I wake you up?"

"Oh, no, I think it was my stomach. I need food," she laughed. It surprised Pema how happy Eska was, since she was always so doom and gloom, but she guessed that watching your boyfriend almost die then finding out he was alive was enough to put anyone in a good mood. In truth, Eska was just being herself.

"Well, I was just bringing some food in in case you woke up. I guess I came right in time, ha." She set the tray down on Eska's lap, and she started to devour the food.

"What time is it?" she asked between bites.

"Nine a.m., you've been out for almost a day."

"Is Bolin -"

"He's still not awake yet, but we've been giving him water and foods like applesauce and yogurt. I think he'll be up today, actually. His skin colour's back to normal, and he seems healthy."

Eska smiled slightly. She had to be with to Bolin to smile big.

"Perfect."

"How are you doing?"

"Hungry and stiff."

About twenty minutes later, Eska was done eating. Pema stayed with her the entire time.

"So," Pema started, but then Ikki bursted through the doors.

"Bolin's awake! Bolin's awake! Bolin's awake! He just woke up and he wants to see you Eska and he's so worried but he's so happy you're okay and everyone else is with him and he's okay! Come on!" Ikki ran down the hallway.

"Are you sure you're well enough to walk to the other side of the island?" Pema asked.

"I have to go see him," she answered simply. Pema took the tray off of her, and Eska kicked her legs over the bed. She was already lightheaded after being in bed for two days. Pema put her arm around her hip for support, and the waterbender stood up. Slowly, - very slowly, - they made their way to the men's dormitory.

At Bolin's door, Eska stopped, leaning on it. She heard voices on the other side, but wasn't registering what they were saying. She was going over everything that happened. There were a few tears on her face by the end, but she wiped them away. It only took a minute or two to go over everything.

"You okay, Eska?" Pema asked. She nodded back slightly.

"Let's go in."

In the room, everyone turned toward her - Tenzin, Jinora, Ikki, Mako, Korra Asami -

- And then there was Bolin, sitting up, staring at her. The way their eyes lit up when they met was unexplainable, so bright and happy and alive. She ran out of Pema's support and fell into Bolin's arms. He grabbed onto her, and they squeezed into each other tightly. Everything was bursting with colours again.

After a few seconds, their grips tightened even more. No kiss or crying was needed, just each other's presence. In unison, they whispered, "I almost lost you."

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**The end! Thank you for reading!**


End file.
